Japanese Phrase Cards for Vegans, Vegetarians, People With Food Allergies, or Other Dietary Restrictions

For those of you who are vegetarians, vegans, have food allergies, or any other kind of dietary restriction, it can be difficult when you're out and about in Japan to ensure that the food you're eating doesn't contain anything you can't eat. Not just for those living here, but travelers as well.

Maki, of the amazing food blogs Just Hungry and Just Bento, created printable pdfs (in A4 or US letter size) with cards that list English phrases for dietary restrictions and their Japanese translations.

She currently has cards for:

vegetarians

vegans

pescatarians

folks who eat poultry and fish but not meat

wheat allergies

dairy/lactose allergies

nut allergies

shellfish/shrimp allergies

soy allergies

no alcohol

You can also get a "fill in the blank" allergy card.

So the next time you eat out in Japan and aren't sure how to explain to the server what you can or can't have, you can just pull out the appropriate card. Or if you're going to a party or something like that, you can let the hosts know about your dietary restrictions ahead of time by sending along a card.